European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 6, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Of the user mushrooms Tor Sale at the banners is fret Moscow to St. Petersburg for greater Contact Wilh the West. The cily became Leningrad after Lenin died in 1924 Lenin led the revolution and was the . S first Premier. The Winter Palace the former residence of the czars is now part of the Hermitage one of the world s great Art museums. Peter bought Emire Western european Art collections and commissioned works from Western european painters Tho collection 1$ surpassed Only by the Prado in Madrid for Spanish works and the louvre in Paris Lor French works. The museum is first in dutch paintings especially Rembrandt. Many of Anta of the revolution took place a Palace Square. The bloody sunday massacre happened in january 1905 when a peaceful demonstration was fired on by tsar Nicholas la s troops. To october 1917 the Winter Palace was stormed by revolutionaries signifying the beginning of soviet communism end the dictatorship of the proletariat. Officials of the deposed provisional government were imprisoned in the fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul built by Peter the Greet. The fortress became a museum in f922. The fortress Park on the Neva River is a popular place to swim walk and draw. Leningrad s Mejor Road is Nevsky Prospek once fined with Fine shops Banks and palaces of the nobility. The House of books on Nevsky is Leningrad s largest Bookstore. It s not on the tour but tourists can go there on their free Lime. There in t realty anything Lor tourists to buy there except some very inexpensive posters but it s interesting to see the soviet Union publishes More books than any other nation bul most of them Are what the parly wants its citizens to read. Technological works and books on Lenin atheism and the party take obvious precedence in the Bookstore. Yet russians Wail hours in line for an approved novel such As John Steinbeck s the grapes of with. Further Down Tho Street is a Farmers Market which also in t on the tour. Although the prices Are High the Quality is Good and there Are no lines. About 40 percent of the soviet Union s agriculture is Pavale in a theoretically collect sized farming system the major theater companies Are the kirov opera and Ballet in Leningrad and the Bolshoi ballot and Moscow ail theater in Moscow. The Bolshoi and Arl theater Don t perform in the summer. Tickets Are hard to come by for Ordinary citizens because the Busl tickets Are sold to tourists Lor a relatively Small amount of hard currency. The soviet theater gets a generous government allotment and the sets Are works of Arl. I m not interested in theater but i saw the Leo Delibes Ballet Les sulphides in Leningrad and it was so mesmerizing. I forgot i was in the Soviel Union there in t much to do after the Mealer. Nightlife ends at 11 30 in tha Soviel Union except for Enterlein enl in some Inlo Urist hotels. Visiting Moscow and Leningrad did t completely satisfy my curiosity in jus made me want 10 see More of 1he . Russia is on a one of 15 republics Ell with their own races nationalities and religions i be seen two cities in Russia but that s like saying i saw he uni cd slates because i visited new York City and Boston my information Tours and travel tour Cost $039. Which included the visa roundtrip Aular from Frankfurt Airport hotel transfers Irain travel item Moscow to Leningrad and seven nights in shared hotel room with three Moals a Day. A single  costs anexlra$102. Itt also offers a bus trip that includes Vienna Budapest. Kiev Orzol Moscow. Leningrad Novgorod. Helsinki and Stockholm for sb70 to $1.110, members of tha . Military need clearance to travel in communist countries irom their Branch Olli in service forms Are available irom Punco or co oif i i s Jicy must be submit led 45 Days prior to your trip of Pillow Lor processing americans must sub Newt their passports to their travel agent one month prior to departure to gel h visa Check Wilh itt or travel agents on Iho Economy Lor information Ghoul other trips to the . Volodya and Anatoly expressions you know in this notebook. Volodya s Friend asked. The notebook was filled with colloquialisms irom americans he had met see you Laler Alligator he said when we Tell. Laler on that Day voted a and i went to he subway Stalion to meet an american photographer working at the Goodwill games an International athletic event held in june. Volodya exchanged three soviet military belts for a pair of barely used Nike sneakers one or two sizes Loo big Lor him. Military belts Are considered munitions by the soviet government and can t be taken out of the country. Volodya did t a me for anything but i had brought several things including Jean cutoffs Corduroy pants Ell lipped pens cigarettes lipstick and nylons. The lipstick and the nylons Aren t new i said. That s of we re not used to anything new Here. I wonder if i can get into these pants he said although they were or women. He especially liked the calculator that had Newsweek written on it. That evening Volodya and i went to a pizza place bul As usual there was a line. A soviet military officer pushed in Routi and then a heated argument began Over who was next in line. But it did t Mailer because the shop closed while we were standing there. How can people worry about politics when they have such problems in daily life Volodya said. I think the party causes these problems to keep our minds off politics. I Don t like the system but i would be a dissident in i spoke out. The government told the people that the tourists where buying their first Quality goods but the people said How can they buy so much so the government said the tourists were elitist. Older people believe this but the Young Don t. We know tourists Are just average citizens Anatoly approached me in the Leningrad metro. Are you an american meeting americans is my Hobby he said. Anatoly 22, is an economics student at the University of Leningrad Wilh an Uncertain future. He and his parents Are refuseniks jews who applied for exit visas and were refused. After applying live years ago his father was placed in an inferior Job. Anatoly would like to live in new York City because he has relatives who emigrated there before the russian revolution in 1917. Lots of jews think they Are equal with russians but they Aren  Anatoly said. I was very Lucky to get into the University. My nationality is recorded on my passport. We have to carry ii Wilh us All the time but i never  officially Judaism is a nationality. All nationalities Are recorded on Soviel internal passports Anatoly has lived All his life with his fall or. An Engineer and his Molher a pensioner in a typical Leningrad prefabricated High Rise apart men of building. His bedroom is the dining room which he used to share with his sister now married his father makes 160 roubles a Morth. About s229. The average wage is 170 �241 bul workers can make Between 200 and 600 rubles a month $2b6 to $857according to analogy a Soldier s Starling wage is seven rubles s10and generals make approximately 620 rubles $883. He said salaries Are Low by Western standards but roil. Lood fuel Medicine and transportation Are either Frau of heavily subsidized. Higher salaries would t improve the lifestyle because there Are few goods to buy Anatomy i relatives in new York Send lha family american clothing such As jeans sneakers and jackets. He recently got some cassette tapes of the top 40 hits from a radio station in Philadelphia from an american student studying russian in Leningrad. I gave him a time Magazine that a Man on my tour brought into the country and some other Small items. Anatoly bought me a Soviel Flag he wanted to buy me some military emblems instead but Only military men can buy them. He deceived  Anatoly said after a Soldier look his Money in the military Supply store and left with in. I never intended to give away my Backpack but since he really liked in i decided i could always gel another one. He can t. The stars and stripes Page 15 we